Glarus

Glarus, a canton of Switzerland, bounded by the cantons of St Gall, the Grisons, Uri, and Schwyz, with an area of 266½ sq. m., and (1888) 33,825 inhabitants, of whom four-fifths belong to the Reformed Church. It is an Alpine region, trenched by the valley of the Linth or Limmat and its lateral valleys, and rising in its south-western corner, in the Tödi peak, to an altitude of 11,887 feet. The climate is very severe, and only one-fifth of the land is arable. The rearing of cattle and the manufacture of cotton and woollen goods are the chief occupations of the people. The green cheese called Schabziger is wholly made here, and it and other agricultural products are exported. The constitution is drawn on broad democratic lines. Full freedom of the press, of religion, of industry, and of trade prevails. The capital of the canton is the town of Glarus (5330 inhabitants in 1880), 43 miles SE. of Zurich by rail. It was founded by an Irish monk, Fridolin, in the end of the 5th century. Zwingli was pastor here from 1506 to 1516. Glarus, having been peopled by German settlers, passed after various changes into the possession of the dukes of Austria, but ultimately secured its independence by the victories of Näfels in 1352 and 1388. In 1450 it joined the Swiss Confederation.